


Pencil to Paper

by Anonymous



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Adulthood, Artist!Race, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Modern Era, One Shot, Roommates, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 04:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13826664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Spot watches Race draw





	Pencil to Paper

**Author's Note:**

> for [kingkongofnewyork](http://kingkongofnewyork.tumblr.com) on tumblr!!

Despite being friends with Race for years now, there were things Spot hadn’t noticed until they started living together.

Of course, in Spot’s mind, living together meant two friends needing an affordable place to live. Nothing more and nothing less. 

Living together also meant it was only natural for Spot to pick up on certain things. The way Race danced and sang as he cooked, his methodical bedtime habits, how he took over the entire couch when he wanted to draw. The fact that Race drew.

Spot had tried to see Race’s sketches one time or another, but Race kept a close guard on his sketchpad and Spot respected those boundaries. At the very least, he enjoyed seeing Race’s concentration, the way he mimicked whatever facial expression he was drawing. This was all assumption, however. For all Spot knew, Race just liked to make weird faces. 

“You should try it,” Race commented one day as they sat on the couch together. 

Spot had been there first until Race fell onto the couch, draping his legs across Spot’s lap. It was nothing unusual. Spot had adjusted quickly to Race’s touchiness, finding it endearing if anything. 

“Try what?” Spot responded, his head resting on his hand. 

“Drawing.”

Turning from the TV, Spot squinted at Race. “Why do you say that?”

Race shrugged, his sketching halting for a moment. “You’re always staring at me when I draw. Like you want to learn or something.”

Spot’s stomach flipped and he focused back on the show to stop himself from visibly reacting. “You just look really concentrated is all. Maybe I want to make sure you’re not straining yourself.”

A bright laughter filled the room and Race’s legs were gone from Spot’s lap. With his attention back on Race, Spot watched with a frown as Race dug out several items before dumping one on Spot. 

“Try it. You might find it relaxing.”

Another sketchpad stared Spot in the face and his hands remained firm at his sides as he realized what Race was suggesting. With a shrug, Race opened to the first page and held out a pencil to Spot, a small grin dancing on his face. Sparing a glance at Race, Spot hesitantly took the pencil from Race’s hand and he frowned as his fingers refused to work. 

Sure he knew how to write, draw stick figures at best, but with Race’s eyes on him, he didn’t want the pencil to touch the paper.

“I’ll go back to my stuff,” Race reassured, propping his legs up so his feet barely brushed against Spot’s lap. 

Hearing the familiar scratching of Race’s pencil, Spot took a small breath and settled on something small. His hand shook just a little and by the time he was finished with the box, it was too wavy for his liking. 

Scowling, Spot scribbled on the page before starting on another shape, his hand becoming more and more confident as he drew. Glancing around him, Spot decided to throw it all to the wind, sketching what he could. So what if it looked terrible? He was starting to enjoy himself and he wanted to distract himself from the fact that Race had figured it out so easily. 

As he started on the curve of the vase that sat near the tv, Spot’s hand led him too deep and he huffed as he tried to perfect the curve. 

“Everything okay?” Race asked over the top of his sketchbook and Spot nodded.

“Just can’t get this curve is all,” he commented, not really sure why.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Race set his things to the side and scoot in closer to Spot until their legs were touching. Heat creeped up the back of Spot’s neck, but he merely pursed his lips as Race leaned in.

“Is it okay if I look?” Race asked, his hand hovering just before the sketchbook. 

Tilting the page down, Spot let Race look over his doodles, a little embarrassed at how poor they were. 

“That’s the vase on the stand, isn’t it?” Race grinned, pointing at the deep curves. 

Spot shrugged, a little bit of pride coming back as Race bit his lip. Reaching out for Spot’s hand that held the pencil, Race brought it back to the page, his hand forming the shape of Spot’s own. 

“Sometimes with curves it helps if you put your pinky down on the page,” Race began, leading Spot’s hand and adding a little pressure to his pinky. 

Spot’s deep lines were becoming a bit more shallow as Race guided him, the vase now actually beginning to look how it was supposed to. Unable to help himself, Spot turned to Race to thank him but in an instant, his breath was taken away. 

Race’s face was much closer than he realized, their breaths mingling as they stared into each other’s eyes. Their hands had stopped and Spot’s heart beat in his ears. He never realized how rich Race’s eyes were or the way his lips parted just so. There was so much to take in, Spot couldn’t handle it and he closed the gap between them, his eyes shutting firmly. 

Race’s sigh said more than Spot ever imagined, Race’s hand squeezing his own tightly. The pencil and sketchbook were quickly pushed away as the two grabbed onto each other, their kiss turning into light pecks and stuttered breaths. 

“I–uh, sorry,” Spot apologized when they finally pulled away from each other.

“Why?” Race tilted his head, the corners of his mouth turning up. 

Blinking, Spot hadn’t prepared for this reply and he shook his head. “For...kissing you?”

“Oh my god, Spot,” Race laughed, his hands going up to hold Spot’s face. “You don’t need to apologize for that. I’ve wanted that to happen for...well, a while now.”

“What? Really?” Spot frowned, wondering how much he really hadn’t been paying attention to. 

As far as he knew, he and Race hadn’t acted much more than friends in any manner, even if Race was a serial cuddler. 

Chuckling, Race let go of Spot’s face to reach behind him, grabbing his sketchbook before laying it in their laps. “This was kind of the reason I didn’t let you see my drawings.”

Opening the book, Race turned the pages slowly as Spot took in the individual sketches. All of him. From when he would sit out on the balcony to the times he was too focused on his video games, Race had captured one moment after another. 

“Oh,” Spot breathed out, now sure his blush was apparent. “These are...Race…”

Race scratched the back of his neck, his mouth quirking upwards. “You like them?”

“Of–of course,” Spot nodded. “I didn’t know I looked like that is all.”

“Eh, you’re much better looking than this, I still gotta work on portraits,” Race grinned and Spot returned the expression, his heart light in his chest. 

“Guess we’ll have plenty of time to learn together, huh?” Spot teased. 

The smile on Race’s face was comparable to the sunlight that poured into the room and Spot couldn’t help leaning in for another kiss. So maybe there were things he focused on too much, others not enough. It didn’t matter much now because with Race, a new world had been opened up and that was worth taking the time to explore.

**Author's Note:**

> if you want more artist race feel free to hmu on here or tumblr and we'll see where my brain takes me :D
> 
>  
> 
> [Chumblr](http://safarikalamari.tumblr.com)


End file.
